Decline in food standards on Sirena. Poor bar service.

[Paulchili]

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

DH goes to tea daily  & has never seen them  on the daily afternoon tea

Just curious

We also enjoy the afternoon tea and go frequently.

I have no recollection of hot items at tea - only finger sandwiches, cakes, cookies and scones.

That said, there are enough posts lately about the decline of food on Oceania. This is more concerning when it comes from O regulars rather than first-timers, whose expectations might have been set too high based on reports here as well as the claim of “best food at sea” by Oceania.

The regulars OTOH have a basis of comparison to their prior experiences.

We have noticed changes on Oceania in the last couple of years but they were not related to decline in food quality.

We have a few O cruises scheduled in the future and are anxious to see what our experiences are.

There are choices out there should Oceania decide they want to cut corners on what they are best known for.

[clo]

7 hours ago, Classiccruiser777 said:

 

If we experience a downward trend, a consistent couple of days of the same, we send a note directly to the GM. If we’re not happy why wait?

Absolutely!

[LHT28]

17 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

We also enjoy the afternoon tea and go frequently.

I have no recollection of hot items at tea - only finger sandwiches, cakes, cookies and scones.

That said, there are enough posts lately about the decline of food on Oceania. This is more concerning when it comes from O regulars rather than first-timers, whose expectations might have been set too high based on reports here as well as the claim of “best food at sea” by Oceania.

The regulars OTOH have a basis of comparison to their prior experiences.

We have noticed changes on Oceania in the last couple of years but they were not related to decline in food quality.

We have a few O cruises scheduled in the future and are anxious to see what our experiences are.

There are choices out there should Oceania decide they want to cut corners on what they are best known for.

I agree

The food quality was the same  but some choices  are very different from the earlier  cruises

JMO

[Jay23]

I have never seen hot anything at tea time.  Neither have I seen a central table but I have seen a sort of bar/counter set up against the wall for self service.  We always wait for the trolley service, much more relaxing.   Personally I wonder if it is an advantage that the choices at tea have been reduced as too much at tea is not good for me!!!!     J  

[tvmovielover]

I remember a central table in the middle of Horizons I think on the Marina for tea but on Nautica there was a smaller self serve bar against a  wall.  It was too good to risk going every single day on both!  Maybe a few less choices next year will be a good thing.

[Whiteowl]

15 hours ago, LHT28 said:

 

DH goes to tea daily  & has never seen them  on the daily afternoon tea

Just curious

 

 

Oh dear. 

 

Even my wife (who is always right. LOL) says there aren't any hot items.  I must have been fantasizing but I'm sure there used to be those silver lift-up lid buffet containers. Anyway, even if not, the standard was definitely lower in March than previous years. 

 

Let's hope the bean counters at  NCL aren't taking over.  It would be such a shame as I'm sure Oceania doesn't want to lose its USP for food quality.

[cbb]

Delete

Edited August 19, 2019 by cbb

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, Whiteowl said:

 

Let's hope the bean counters at  NCL aren't taking over.  It would be such a shame as I'm sure Oceania doesn't want to lose its USP for food quality.

Actually it's the other way around.  The bean counters from Prestige Cruise Holdings (Oceania and Regent Seven Seas) took over NCL. The CEO of Norwegian Cruise Lines Holdings is Frank Del Rio, who is one of the founders of Oceania, and Oceania's CEO is Bob Binder, the other founder of Oceania. So the same people are in charge of Oceania .

 

As someone who has cruised on both Oceania and NCL I've found the changes to NCL have been far worse, primarily due to greatly increased prices and cut backs in food and service.

 

The real reason is not that Oceania people are running NCL or NCL people are running Oceania. The belt tightening is the product of being a publicly traded corporation rather than a privately held corporation. The institutional investors and stock analysts expect higher earnings. If they're not achieved the stock price will fall. if stock prices fall Frank Del Rio and other senior NCLH executives will not be compensated nearly as well as if stock prices hold up. If earnings are bad enough the board of directors might go as far as firing them. It's in the senior officers' own best interests to squeeze the lemon as hard as possible in order to extract every possible dollar of profit, resulting in their receiving  highest possible compensation.

[LHT28]

5 hours ago, Jay23 said:

I have never seen hot anything at tea time.  Neither have I seen a central table but I have seen a sort of bar/counter set up against the wall for self service.  We always wait for the trolley service, much more relaxing.   Personally I wonder if it is an advantage that the choices at tea have been reduced as too much at tea is not good for me!!!!     J  

on the larger ships  there is  a central table

 

trolley

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, Whiteowl said:

 

Oh dear. 

 

Even my wife (who is always right. LOL) says there aren't any hot items.  I must have been fantasizing but I'm sure there used to be those silver lift-up lid buffet containers. Anyway, even if not, the standard was definitely lower in March than previous years. 

 

Those silver dishes  have the scones  in them

The scones used to be on the Trolley  but they are now on the table

[londonlad35]

Just off Insignia. We hadn’t read this thread but throughout the week felt there were not enough staff on duty : for us it felt that too few sommeliers meant waiting for drinks, same around the pool and agree on the menu / food change this time round with menus where for me I felt it was difficult to choose something to eat : not the Oceania I remember of just a few years ago.

[ano]

On 8/18/2019 at 3:56 AM, ricka47 said:

This is disappointing to hear as we are taking our first cruise on Oceania (Insignia) in October hoping to see an improvement from the declining standards of the mainstream lines.  Yet, we are reading reviews here of under-staffing, fewer menu items, and lower food quality in some recent reviews. 

 

I know that most cruise lines do not get better over time and that is why we moved from mostly RCI to X over the years.  Now, for the same reason, we are trying Oceania.  We know that it will be better (I hope) than the mainstream lines.  But, I fear that the quantum leap that we were expecting may not be there as anticipated.

We took our first Oceania cruise a few months ago, seems like for the same reason as you. I will say that the food in the specialty restaurants is very good. The food in the main dinning room is as good as Royal Caribbean or Celebrity maybe 10 - 15 years ago, which isn't terrible.  Our biggest complaint would be the choices don't change that much. The buffet was small but had better choices than RC or Celebrity.  So yes, no doubt Oceania has decreased like every else, but it was coming from a higher point than the others.

[ano]

On 8/18/2019 at 7:53 AM, cruisesport said:

hope people really use the comment cards to get the food up to O standards...

Unfortunately those reading the comment cards do the best with what they have, but they can't change the budgeting. You can complain all you want, but don't think your comments are going to the CEO.

[ano]

On 8/18/2019 at 9:54 AM, ORV said:

I do believe it's a matter of reduction in numbers. I hope Oceania realizes this might be a penny wise and pound foolish move on their part. 

 

It's been obvious to us on our last couple of Oceania cruises. Because we're used to Oceania we are more accepting than someone that might be coming from a mass market line expecting to be blow away by the service and the food. 

Here is the reality. What matters is the demand that they have for their cruises, compared to other cruise lines. If their numbers and demand are increasing at least as much as the others, why listen to the complainers on the comment cards?  If there comes a time that their numbers drop faster than industry averages, THEN they might take what the comment cards say to heart. Otherwise its CUT CUT CUT from above, and the poor workers on the ship doing the actual work are caught between complaining passengers on one side, and management cutting costs on the other. 

 

Should the head of food services or the head of house cleaning tell management that passengers are complaining, the solution is simple. Management will just replace these people with new staff.   Its much cheaper to do that than actually fix the problem.

 

 

[LHT28]

24 minutes ago, ano said:

Unfortunately those reading the comment cards do the best with what they have, but they can't change the budgeting. You can complain all you want, but don't think your comments are going to the CEO.

Maybe on RCL or Celebrity  but I do believe the CEO  on Oceania  does listen

He  was onboard  our cruise last year .....he could see for himself

JMO

[firsttimers68]

Mura, I was talking about the cost cutting, i.e. lack of staff, and decline in quality etc on Sirena. Forgive the confusion, its not always easy to get a point across on forums! 🙂

[ghdool]

I have only been on one Oceania cruise on the Riviera. The food was amazing and we really loved the lobster tails in The Terrace. We are going on Sirena in Dec. and we had the same high expectations for this trip. I am hoping we won't be very disappointed. Does anyone know if The Terrace serves the lobster tails on the Sirena too or did they cut that out? 

[Classiccruiser777]

3 hours ago, ghdool said:

I have only been on one Oceania cruise on the Riviera. The food was amazing and we really loved the lobster tails in The Terrace. We are going on Sirena in Dec. and we had the same high expectations for this trip. I am hoping we won't be very disappointed. Does anyone know if The Terrace serves the lobster tails on the Sirena too or did they cut that out? 

 

Lobster tails are still on the menu in Terrace.

 

[tvmovielover]

The bread and pastries are still very good-right? 

[jo-b]

Onboard currently and food is fine, Red Ginger just as good as ever, GDR food hot, service fast & friendly. Yes the menus have been altered so some starters are there every day, maybe we are lucky that they are things we like. 5th day of very Port intensive Med cruise and today wa S the first time the GDR open at lunchtime. 

Buffet is very popular at dinner, maybe because of the long day trips in very very hot weather? 

Bar service has been slow, not because the waiters are not doing their best but there do seem to be fewer of them. We have what seems to be quite a few GoNext alumni groups onboard who have had a few parties our surmise is that waiters from the bars have been drafted in for these. But that is guesswork. Just had the mid cruise feedback form so we have both mentioned it. 

 

Ship  looks  beautiful post revamp, everything lighter brighter and lots more room. Seats are very easy to get out of by the way ( I seem to remember people with”knees” worrying about this 😀) 

[jo-b]

1 hour ago, tvmovielover said:

The bread and pastries are still very good-right? 

Unfortunately they are! 

[cruisesport]

this is good to hear...

[Winters Gate]

Sadly I can just agree with the OP, we had exactly the same experience on Sirena in July. Oceania is just not what it used to be when it comes to food and level of service!

We will look for alternative when it comes to our next cruises.

[ricka47]

9 minutes ago, Winters Gate said:

Sadly I can just agree with the OP, we had exactly the same experience on Sirena in July. Oceania is just not what it used to be when it comes to food and level of service!

We will look for alternative when it comes to our next cruises.

We have our first O cruise coming up in October and just booked a HAL cruise for Thanksgiving.  One common theme on both boards (and others) is that .                    cruise line isn't what it used to be.  Is there any cruise line that gets better over time?  So, far, I haven't found it.   Since our first cruise in 1991, the quality has dropped.

 

It comes down to value - is the level of service and food worth what we are paying today?  It's not so much of the question of whether that food or service is as good as it was 15 or 20 years ago - it's not. 

 

To me, it's more about what I'm willing to pay to get a certain level of quality.  We don't sail Carnival even though the prices often look very attractive.  We'll see in October whether O (as it is today) is the step up from the mainstream lines that we're hoping for.

[ORV]

I've been on Cruise critic for 15 years and have seen/heard that continual moan since then. It's always a constant theme.  I sure would have enjoyed a cruise in the good ol days.